The 2026 Beaufort Pirate Invasion runs Friday through Sunday, November 13 to 15. Front Street gets only a small piece of it. The free part downtown starts at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Eury Park and ends at 5:15. The cannon fire, the encampments, the vendors and the Saturday night party all happen at the Gallants Channel Annex, 293 W Beaufort Rd Ext. That's a 31-acre state-owned waterfront property that has long been in the plans for a bigger North Carolina Maritime Museum.
Because the weekend happens mostly across the channel, getting there matters as much as the schedule. NC 101 is also partly closed this month for road work.
Four listings, two places, one ticket that covers most of it
The organizer's schedule lists four pieces, and only one of them is free.
| Event | When | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish Pirates Invade Beaufort kickoff | Friday, Nov. 13, 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. | Eury Park, Front Street | Free |
| The Beaufort Pirate Invasion, Friday | Friday, Nov. 13, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Gallants Channel | Ticketed |
| The Beaufort Pirate Invasion | Saturday, Nov. 14, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, Nov. 15, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Gallants Channel Annex | $10 for both days, ages 12 and under free |
| Pirate Parlay | Saturday, Nov. 14, 7 to 10 p.m. | Gallants Channel Annex | $10, ages 12 and under free, separate from weekend admission |
The weekend pass is the best value. One $10 ticket gets an adult in on both Saturday and Sunday, and children 12 and under get in free. A family that goes Saturday morning and comes back Sunday for the last encampment day pays the same as a family that stays two hours. The Pirate Parlay is the exception. It's a separate ticket, and the organizer says plainly that it "Does not include weekend admission."
The Friday kickoff is the one piece that fits into a regular weeknight. Eury Family Park, at 702 Front Street, sits on Taylor's Creek, and the Town of Beaufort lists the Pirate Invasion among the community events it hosts every year. The organizer's own invitation for Friday asks people to "come dressed in your pirate best, and prepare to be part of the action." The Motley Tones also list the Beaufort Pirate Invasion on their 2026 performance schedule for November 13 and 14.
Why the weekend belongs to Gallants Channel
The move across the channel follows the history the event retells. The nonprofit behind it, Beaufort Pirate Invasion Inc., is led by Capt. Carl Cannon, who plays Blackbeard and serves as the event's host and organizer. It exists in part to mark the Spanish attack on Beaufort in 1747, along with Blackbeard and the Queen Anne's Revenge, which spent time in these waters. The 1747 attack came by water, and the Carteret County News-Times described an earlier year's reenactment as a Spanish privateer attack "on Taylors Creek and Gallants Channel."
The Gallants Channel site also has room that Front Street doesn't. The Friends of the North Carolina Maritime Museum describe the 31-acre property as having "expansive waterfront access and room for maritime programming that cannot be fully accommodated at the Museum's Front Street location." They say planning ideas for it have included educational buildings, outdoor gathering areas, waterfront improvements and a future expanded museum campus. The state owns the land and makes the planning decisions. The Friends group's role is support, and the scope, funding, design and timelines all still depend on state planning and approval.
So a Pirate Invasion weekend is also one of the easiest ways to walk the ground that may become the museum's second campus. You can follow the pirates back to the real thing at the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort, which holds artifacts from the Queen Anne's Revenge, Blackbeard's wrecked flagship.
The calendar date isn't fixed from year to year either. The town's calendar put the 2024 event on November 22 to 24, so this year's weekend falls nine days earlier in the month.
How Saturday and Sunday differ at the annex
The organizer describes the ticketed weekend as cannon demonstrations, living history, entertainment, vendors, food trucks, performances and sea battles. The two days aren't billed the same way, though. Saturday runs longer and leads into the evening event. Sunday is billed as the "final day of historical encampments, pirate battles, live music," and it wraps up at 4 p.m.
The Pirate Parlay is the one event the organizer plans around seating:
Gather your crew, bring your lawn chairs, and prepare for an evening of pirate revelry!
Parking at Gallants Channel comes with both the weekend pass and the Parlay ticket. The organizer adds that spots may be limited. If you're doing Saturday daytime and the Parlay, you'll be on the property from morning until 10 p.m. Arriving early for the 10 a.m. gate gives you the best shot at a spot.
The drive in runs through a work zone this month
Getting to the annex this year means dealing with NCDOT's roundabout project at NC 101 and Live Oak Street, project U-6058. NCDOT puts the cost at $13.5 million. Since September 14, crews have closed NC 101 from Live Oak Street to just south of West Beaufort Road to put in sanitary sewer line and storm drain. Traffic has been detoured via U.S. 70 East and Live Oak Street, with no through traffic on Campen Road or Carraway Drive.
In its September 11 update, the Town of Beaufort said NCDOT would close the NC 101 and Live Oak Street intersection itself in mid-November to start the final phase, which is building the roundabout. The town expects NC 101, Live Oak Street and the roundabout to open in late May 2027. NCDOT's schedule lists that last closure for storm drain, grading, curb and gutter, sidewalk and roundabout work.
That puts the start of the intersection closure in the same weeks as Pirate Invasion weekend. Before you leave for Gallants Channel, check the Town of Beaufort project page and NCDOT's project page, which has an email sign-up for updates. Then follow the posted detour signs, not the route you usually drive. The town says access to homes and businesses will stay open throughout the project.
Where the week goes after the pirates leave
Pirate weekend kicks off a busy stretch on the Crystal Coast, and a few of the dates overlap:
- Arts Council of Carteret County Holiday Show, Morehead City: opens Saturday, November 14, the same day the Gallants Channel gates open, and runs through December 19, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Arts Council's gallery.
- Southern Kingfish Association National Championship, Town Creek Marina in Beaufort: November 18 to 21.
- Fort Macon Fall Astronomy Night: Friday, November 20, at 6 p.m. in the Fort Macon Bathhouse parking lot, listed in the News-Times community calendar and hosted by the Crystal Coast Stargazers.
A Saturday that starts at the Holiday Show in Morehead City and ends at the Pirate Parlay is doable, as long as you plan the drive into Beaufort around the NC 101 work.
At Buying NC, we keep track of what's happening around Beaufort, from Gallants Channel to the NC 101 roundabout, because that's part of knowing a place before you buy there. If this weekend has you thinking about buying a home in Carteret County, see if you qualify for NC Home Advantage. We'll walk you through the next steps from there.
